Free Fire banned in India: Why Free Fire MAX is still available on Play Store

Indian gamers and fans of Free Fire and Free Fire MAX encountered shocking news today as the former was blocked in the country. The extensive report revealed a ban on Free Fire alongside 53 other apps. The inevitable decision was speculated by many after the game's removal from the application stores of Android and iOS.

The availability of Free Fire MAX in the Play Store was the only positive among the disheartening news and revelations that users came across today. The MAX variant is the only way for players to access their game accounts and other in-game features. However, nothing can be said with surety after Free Fire's ban.

---

Free Fire and Free Fire MAX: Why the latter is still available after the former's ban

Players were not able to find Free Fire in the application stores (Image via Google Play)

The Indian government's Ministry of Electronics and IT cited the security reasons for banning the applications that included Free Fire. The grounds and developments leading up to the blockage were similar to PUBG Mobile and TikTok bans.

Hence, the 54 mentioned applications by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology in the list that includes Garena Free Fire have been blocked with an immediate effect to preserve the nation's "security and sovereignty."

However, players can still spot Garena Free Fire MAX in the Google Play Store because the game has been left out of the list of blocked apps. Therefore, as of this writing, the MAX variant of Free Fire is still working in India.

Since both Free Fire and its MAX version are essentially the same game with a difference in graphic quality and animations. Players should download Free Fire's enhanced version to access the in-game data and accounts.

Surprisingly, Garena Free Fire is still working on some devices and networks. Hence, players can wait for developers' official regarding the future of both games (Free Fire and the MAX version) in India.

Fans can only hope that the MAX variant doesn't face the same fate as Free Fire and Garena remains successful in their dialogue with the Government of India.